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Friday, September 9, 2011

The Real Enemy Of The People

Some Arab regimes still insist on sacrificing their citizens and
their nations for their benefit

By Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali

It appears that Arab regimes are professionals when it comes to creating fake enemies. People have found out that this enemy was not a real enemy but a friend of the regime.

There
are agreements and differences between the Arab people and their ruling
regimes. Some of these points are clearly visible, while some others have been
hidden under the ashes since the establishment of these regimes, which have
focused on tightening their grip over the people.

Most
Arab regimes derive their legitimacy from bombastic nationalist slogans to
convince the Arab masses about the ability of the political elite and
leadership to fulfil their dreams. This, after decades of tyranny, suppression
and injustice at the hands of colonial powers.

There
is no doubt that both sides — rulers and the ruled — had an accord, especially
as the liberation movements emerged as the new rulers, inspired by the
revolutionary ideology and the literature of revolutions in the West and the
East.

By
recalling memories of the relationship between the Arab masses and the ruling
authorities, we find that the loser has always been the homeland, which was
sacrificing its people to protect the rulers under the pretext of establishing
order and stability to allow the regime to confront the enemy.

Slogans
such as "No voice is louder than the battle cry" have misled Arab
masses, who were driven by their leaders who succeeded in convincing them of
their legitimacy and exclusive ‘right' to rule. It is clear that some Arab
regimes are still insisting on sacrificing all the people to satisfy their
leaders, under such bombastic slogans.

Today,
it is certain that the ‘battle' for which the masses were mobilised and state
treasuries emptied, never existed. Even more, the presumed enemy which was
portrayed in different forms and studied in school curriculums was nothing but
a mere lie.

It
appears that the Arab regimes are professionals when it comes to creating fake
enemies. Surprisingly, the people today have found out that this enemy was not
a real enemy but a friend of the regime whose troops, aircraft and weapons were
saved for the decisive battle.

Strangely,
there are some who still believe in these regimes, and even work hard to serve
them. They parrot the regime slogans, serving as their mouthpieces and curse
the people who revolt against them. Even worse, these people still claim that
the popular uprisings are just a foreign conspiracy and that those who take
part in the anti-government protests are working for foreign powers. And thus,
what is happening is nothing but a plan hatched abroad and being implemented
inside.

The
pro-government faction claims that such events will facilitate the enemy's
penetration into the nation and violate its security, sovereignty and
integrity.

These
fabrications are made while the people see with their own eyes the bloody
crimes committed by the autocratic regime itself, not the presumed or the
alleged enemy.

Misusing the media

The
victims who fall during these protests include the common people and members of
the opposition, security forces and the army, while those in power are the only
ones who enjoy and benefit from the nation's resources.

This
is much the same way they enjoy the scenes of killing and raping, just because
people demand freedom, dignity and social justice.

Creating
an enemy is like creating a crisis, which has always been done perfectly by
intelligence services for a long time. It seems that some Arab regimes learnt
how to create an enemy but were not skilful in the means of mass communication.

The
dominance and utilisation of media in improving the image of the ruling regime
is no longer effective due to the rise of the independent media and the flow of
information through social networking sites and the ability of a person to send
pictures via his mobile phone to expose the actions of the regimes.

So,
footage and films developed by the regime's intelligence service and aired by
state television channels are no longer effective given the rise of Facebook
and Twitter. Using these tools, a protester with a mobile phone can send out
words, pictures and videos that are more credible than those shown on state
satellite TV channels.

It
has become evident that those in power are more hostile to the nation,
themselves and their people than the presumed enemy.

Certainly,
the Arab people know their real enemy and are now fully aware that the nation's
security is fragile and penetrated from inside and outside.

Regrettably,
those who facilitated this state of affairs are the leaders who do not mind
selling their nation in order to remain in power for a longer time.

However,
all the elites, ruling regimes and the people have to play a larger role in
understanding the nature of the conspiracy, given that both the people and
their rulers are in the same boat — and if this boat sinks, everyone will
drown.

-This commentary was published in The GULF NEWS on 09/09/2011
-Dr Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali is an Emirati writer who specialises in legal
affairs

About Me

I graduated from the French University in Beirut (St Joseph) specialising in Political and Economic Sciences. I started my working life in 1973 as a reporter and journalist for the pan-Arab magazine “Al-Hawadess” in Lebanon later becoming its Washington, D.C. correspondent. I subsequently moved to London in 1979 joining “Al-Majallah” magazine as its Deputy Managing Editor. In 1984 joined “Assayad” magazine in London initially as its Managing Editor and later as Editor-in-Chief. Following this, in 1990 I joined “Al-Wasat” magazine (part of the Dar-Al-Hayat Group) in London as a Managing Editor. In 2011 I became the Editor-In-Chief of Miraat el-Khaleej (Gulf Mirror). In July 2012 I became the Chairman of The Board of Asswak Al-Arab Publishing Ltd in UK and the Editor In Chief of its first Publication "Asswak Al-Arab" Magazine (Arab Markets Magazine) (www.asswak-alarab.com).

I have already authored five books. The first “The Tears of the Horizon” is a love story. The second “The Winter of Discontent in The Gulf” (1991) focuses on the first Gulf war sparked by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. His third book is entitled “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications and the Road to a Lasting Peace” (March 2008). The fourth book is titled “How Iran Plans to Fight America and Dominate the Middle East” (October 2008) And the fifth and the most recent is titled "JIHAD'S NEW HEARTLANDS: Why The West Has Failed To Contain Islamic Fundamentalism" (May 2011).

Furthermore, I wrote the memoirs of national security advisor to US President Ronald Reagan, Mr Robert McFarlane, serializing them in “Al-Wasat” magazine over 14 episodes in 1992.

Over the years, I have interviewed and met several world leaders such as American President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Margaret Thacher, Late King Hassan II of Morocco, Late King Hussein of Jordan,Tunisian President Zein El-Abedine Bin Ali, Lybian Leader Moammar Al-Quadhafi,President Amine Gemayel of Lebanon,late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, Late Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, Haitian President Jean Claude Duvalier, Late United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan,Algerian President Shazli Bin Jdid, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Siyagha and more...